Christmas should be every 5 years instead of annually.

[Isometimeswonder]

Obviously I'm being lighthearted.
But I think there's so much build up for Christmas, so many people trying to please everyone, so many stresses and expenditure, it would be better to have Christmas less frequently.
Like every 3, or 5, years.
Could use the money spent on Christmas on other things.
Would probably look forward to it more.
Fewer times I'd have to listen to Christmas music on repeat in shops.
Could avoid certain relatives for longer.
I'm not just kidding. 😀

Don't you have a choice? If you chose not to do Christmas, wouldn't you just... not do Christmas? Why does everyone else have to not do it too?

No. It's only stressful if you buy into all the crap.
I love it, a few days off work, some nice food and drink, a few gifts, family time, maybe see some friends and above all relax.

I don't mind it being celebrated every year. However, I think we need to get back to it starting much later in the year, say nothing until mid-November. Also, it goes on far too long - many people are taking 16 days off! It is ridiculous, particularly as it is the middle of winter. It used to be just Christmas Eve pm, Christmas Day and Boxing Day then back to normal. Far more sensible.

It takes up to a quarter of the year now. If it was just a week I'd like it a lot more. I think it's good for people who enjoy it and the run-up to it, but it puts many under so much pressure.

Yes, agreed.

It's a holiday for children more than anything else, so having it any less than annually would be cruel. There are only maybe 4 Christmases where children understand what's happening and still believe in all the magic of it so you'd be robbing them of lovely memories. If you don't want to take part in the adult portion of it then don't; tell people you're not giving gifts or hosting or attending events and then just stay home on your own I guess.

Could use the money spent on Christmas on other things.

You could spend less every year.

It's you that makes the choice not to!

Do Christians get any say?

Christmas used to be a twelve day celebration in the past.

I'd have been more inclined to agree with every other year @Isometimeswonder but I agree that it would be better if it wasn't every year.

I love Christmas and think it should be twice a year !!

😂😂😂

i agree. It’s a right ballache. Even my 73 year old
mother pouts and acts like a wounded disappointed child when it’s “all over”……

fucking ridiculous!

I don’t mind it being every year. I think a bit of festivity around the shortest days of winter is a nice shared cultural event even if you are not a Christian. I worry about parents who don’t feel able to give their kids all the things that are available. Maybe don’t start until December and make it more about togetherness than buying more and more ‘stuff’.

I haven’t felt “christmassy” is years, I do enjoy xmas but I’m very fortunate that I don’t have to work between Xmas and NY so tbh I enjoy the time in between xmas and NY more, everyone living off leftovers, not knowing the day or time, going out if you wan’t to and being cosy in doors if not.

NYE however makes me feel slightly sad, another year gone by so so so fast, but a reminder to be grateful also.

You are after my own heart OP! I have also proposed a 4 year cycle like Olympics / leap year but now I think it would be too much. Like the Olympics, people would be planning 8 years in the future and the family politics would be off the scale. I think every 2 years would be nice. On non Christmas years we could still get little gifts for kids to make up for Santa, but no parties, music, rubbish in shops, trees, turkey dinners etc. People would probably still put up a few fairy lights to combat the dark days. It doesn't have to be negative thing or a loss. There could be an emphasis on rest and recovery for a week at the end of December.

Oh god yes, I’d love this. The only thing I like about christmas is when it’s over, and then you feel like you’re over the bump of the hill and heading downwards towards longer days and better weather.

Now it's about 8- 9 weeks though. Decorations go up 7 weeks beforehand after Halloween, music starts by mid Nov, 5 weeks before Christmas and 6 before New Years. I've just calculated that's over 15% of the year.

We don't do anything for Christmas (except give kids and grandkids cash) and so we enjoy the time off stressfree every year.

Yes - but people only had the 2 1/2 days off work - that's the point.

I LOVEA Christmas but for a long time I’ve thought the same- I think it wears thin every year and would be better and people would be happier about it if it was every Leap year perhaps

I love Christmas.
YABVU.

You do realise you can opt in to the bits you enjoy, and opt out of the parts you don't enjoy, don't you ?
I don't find Christmas stressful. I enjoy it.

So we’d just have several months of bleak, miserable darkness with nothing to break it up with?!

No, I love the house full of twinkling lights, wonderful food and drink and don’t find any of it stressful so am quite happy when it rolls around every year.

I think it should be illegal for Christmas to be in the shops before mid-November.

Nooooo…I remember when I was a child that 26th December was the saddest day of the year because it would be a whole year until it’s Christmas again, I wouldn’t have coped. But even as an adult I start looking forward to it by the end of summer. I love Christmas 🎄

We've just had a family gathering. Party food. Party music. People left mid afternoon and DH and I went for a walk in the woods to celebrate the solstice. Cheese and crackers this evening. Glass of wine. Feels like Christmas, just no gifts or pressure. Prefer Yule to Christmas. We have been dialing back Christmas and focusing on the eight pagan festivals.